7 Ways Mase Is Still Making An Impact On Rap

October 9, 2013 - 4:12 pm
by
Chris Yuscavage

It's been almost 10 years—yes, 10 years!—since Mase released his last album, Welcome Back, in 2004. And yet, he's still very relevant when it comes to rap. It's not because he's actually doing a lot of rapping these days, though. It's also not because he's running a record label or playing any sort of real role in the rap game. Rather, it's because the influence that Mase had on rap almost a decade ago is still going strong in a variety of ways.

Don't believe us? Just go and listen to Pusha T's new song, "Let Me Love You," where Pusha does a spot-on impression of Mase. On the second verse, Pusha sounds so convincing that we had to run it back the first time we heard it to make sure that it wasn't actually Mase making a guest appearance. But that's not the only impact that Mase is making right now. Just check out these 7 ways that Betha is still making an impact on rap.

Photo Credit: Dopeclusive

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#1. Rappers like Pusha T are impersonating Mase on songs and using the flow that he made popular.
In the intro, we told you about how Pusha T did a great Mase impression on "Let Me Love You." But he's not the only rapper who has bitten Mase's flow over the years. Rappers like Fabolous and Kanye West have also adopted Mase's lazy, yet melodic flow on several occasions.
Photo Credit: The Urban Daily

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#2. Rappers like Jay Z are lifting lines directly from Mase's old verses.
Jay Z doesn't rap like Mase on his recent track, "BBC." But he does lift one of the lines from Mase's 1997 hit, "Feel So Good," to create a couple bars on the song. "What you know about goin' out, head west," he raps, "Maybach, three TVs all up in the headrest." Drake also borrowed a line from Mase's verse on Notorious BIG's "Mo Money, Mo Problems" on "Worst Behavior" when he rapped, "Who's hot, who not?/Tell me who rock, who sell out in stores?/You tell me who flop/who copped the new drop? Whose jewels got rocks?"
Photo Credit: The Urban Daily

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#3. Rappers like Kanye West are using Mase's story as a cautionary tale.
Kanye West called on Mase to record a verse for "Higher," which appeared on Cruel Summer last year. But before that, he used Mase in a line that appeared on "Devil in a New Dress" when he rapped "Don't leave while you're hot, that's how Mase screwed up/Throwing shit around, the whole place screwed up/Maybe I should call Mase so he could pray for us."
Photo Credit: Last FM

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#4. Rappers like Rick Ross are taking photos with Mase to generate publicity.
Mase was hanging out with his longtime friend/producer Rico Love last year when Rick Ross called and asked the pair to come kick it with him in the studio. When they got there, Ross asked Mase to pose for a photo with him and had it put out on the Internet. Within days, there was a ton of speculation surrounding whether Mase was signing to Maybach Music Group. Turns out, he wasn't. But it got both him and Ross a ton of publicity at the time.
Photo Credit: RealTalkNY

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#5. Rappers like Drake are asking Mase to perform during concerts.
This summer, Drake held his fourth annual OVO Fest and invited Diddy and Mase to reunite during the festival. It was, by far, the biggest and most memorable portion of the entire festival. And remember, the festival also included a random appearance by Kanye West. So it's saying something that Mase made that much of an impact at OVO Fest.
Photo Credit: The Smoking Section

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#6. Rappers like Wale are requesting verses from Mase.
Last year, Wale called on Mase to add a verse to the "Slight Work (Remix)" that he was working on. That led Mase to reconsider his rap career. "Nobody gets as many chances as I got," he said. "I think I'm meant to do it. That's the conclusion I came to."
Photo Credit: HotNewHipHop

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#7. Rappers like French Montana are showing Mase a lot of love and respect.
Even though he isn't from Harlem, Mase revealed that Montana showed him a lot of love and was partially responsible for getting him onto Wale's "Slight Work (Remix)" last year. French wasn't around back when Mase was doing his thing in the late 1990s, but it's clear that he respects what Mase did for the rap game when he was sitting on top of it. And judging by this list, he's not the only rapper that remembers and respects how important Mase was to rap.
Photo Credit: HotNewHipHop